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Step into the transformative world of Zen with a guide that delivers twice the wisdom in one compelling volume. Zen Essentials: Exploring Rinzai and Soto Traditions combines two powerful books—Rinzai Zen for Beginners and Soto Zen for Beginners—to offer an unparalleled journey into mindfulness, simplicity, and the art of living well. Discover how the bold energy of Rinzai Zen and the serene flow of Soto Zen can transform your life: Sharpen Your Mind with Rinzai Zen: Experience the thrill of koans—enigmatic questions designed to ignite insight and clarity. Rinzai Zen challenges you to ...

Are you dreaming of speaking Japanese like a native but struggling with speaking correct Japanese? Well, if you're like most beginners, you're struggling with Japanese particles. And these little words make a big difference. Get them right and you sound like a fluent speaker. Get them wrong and you sound like you only know random words. Even if you say everything else correctly, your whole sentence can lose its meaning. The good news is there is an EASY way to grasp Japanese particles, easily create correct sentences and start speaking Japanese like a native.

Having trouble following dialogues on your favorite Japanese anime, series, and movies? Do you want to have conversations with Japanese speakers like a native? One of the most crucial skills you will gain as a language learner is the ability to speak like a native. Using the right words, tone, and formality is key to mastering the language, and Japanese is no different! Because of this, we have compiled over 100 conversational Japanese stories for beginners along with their translations.

"Ryōma!" tells the life story of Sakamoto Ryōma, one of the great figures in the turmoil that engulfed Japan in the years before the 1868 Meiji Restoration. The novel is a masterwork by the prolific historical novelist Shiba Ryōtarō and has sold more than 24 million copies in Japan since publication in 1966—and still counting! The novel has everything: a winning main character, an action-packed plot, swordfights, and romance, but it is also a fascinating, easy-to-digest history lesson about Japan’s response to the shocking arrival of United States Commodore Matthew Perry’s “...

ROT BENEATH THE BLOSSOMS — HISTORY THAT BLEEDS, NOT BOWS This isn’t your grandmother’s cherry-blossom scrapbook. It’s a war drum. A blade. A book thick enough to bruise, and sharp enough to cut. Myths don’t die gently—they get dissected. I’m here for that. You should be too. I wrote a foreword so long it could legally qualify as Part I. I refuse to shorten it. It’s my polite throat-clearing before I start flaying national myths like they owe me money. After that, you’ll find essays—more like battlefield autopsies—on Aizu loyalty, 47 Rōnin propaganda, Nakano Takeko’s...

Banished, isolated, and hunted for a destiny he doesn’t understand, Ryuichi must learn to master the powers he inherited from his mother in order to protect the sacred gates that separate the mortal world from the realm of demons. If he doesn’t, kami, yôkai, and demons who are hell-bent on making humanity suffer will flood the human realm.

Kai Bimore never imagined that sneaking a legendary sword through Narita Airport would plunge him into Tokyo’s vicious underworld. Once a criminal with a dark past and a heart still loyal to his family's warrior legacy, Kai now finds himself pitted against the ruthless Ice Kuroda and her deadly empire. As high-stakes alliances fracture and secrets of the ancient Honjo Masamune reveal unprecedented power, every choice he makes could spark a violent revolution or seal his doom. The narrative centers on high-stakes criminal underworld conflicts in modern Tokyo—with rival clans, lethal ...

In a Tokyo suburb, a young man named Toru Okada searches for his wife’s missing cat—and then for his wife as well—in a netherworld beneath the city’s placid surface. As these searches intersect, he encounters a bizarre group of allies and antagonists. Gripping, prophetic, and suffused with comedy and menace, this is one of Haruki Murakami’s most acclaimed and beloved novels.

The daughter of a Buddhist priest, Tsuneno was born in a rural Japanese village and was expected to live a traditional life much like her mother’s. But after three divorces - and a temperament much too strong-willed for her family’s approval - she ran away to make a life for herself in one of the largest cities in the world: Edo, a bustling metropolis at its peak. With Tsuneno as our guide, we experience the drama and excitement of Edo just prior to the arrival of American Commodore Perry’s fleet, which transformed Japan.

Asia Food. Forever. Get your copy of the best and most unique Asian recipes from BookSumo Press! Come take a journey with us into the delights of easy cooking. The point of this cookbook and all our cookbooks is to exemplify the effortless nature of cooking simply. In this book we focus on Asia. Asian Dishes to Cook is a complete set of simple but very unique Asian recipes. You will find that even though the recipes are simple, the tastes are quite amazing. Besides recipes you will learn about the following: The History of Asian Cuisine Balancing Flavors in Asian Cooking Freshness and ...

What if the secret to a longer, healthier life was already known—and practiced every day on a small island in Japan? Okinawa is one of the world’s five “Blue Zones,” regions where people live far longer than average. But it’s not just about genetics. It’s about how they live, what they eat, and why they get up in the morning. In this quick but powerful exploration, you'll learn: The key foods of the Okinawan diet How elders in their 90s maintain purpose and community What hara hachi bu and ikigai really mean—and why they matter How lifestyle, mindset, and connection may matter...

Something has awoken… Four-time self-published author David Angelo invites you back into the world of weredragons in this thrilling sequel to Scales of Rage! As the dust settles over New York, an ancient evil toils under the mountains of eastern Japan. The Orochi, an eight-headed dragon not seen in generations, is reborn and has chosen the weredragon Nicole Newheart as its potential muse. As Nicole travels to Asia on an urgent family matter, she finds herself locked in a race against time to keep the Orochi’s egg from falling into the wrong hands. Along the way, she faces a multitude of...

Where there’s a Will, there’s not always a way in Japan. For the unsuspecting, risks and dangers lurk in the shadows of Japan’s unique inheritance system. These fictional short stories illuminate the real-life system’s inner workings in an easy-to-understand format. A revealing, entertaining window into a rarely seen corner of modern Japanese life. The protagonists represent a cross-section of modern Japan (urban and rural, suburban and expat). What links them all is how they confront the inheritance system's unexpected risks and deal with them in equally unexpected ways. (Earlier ...

The Japanese Art of Shinrin-Yoku: A Woman’s Guide to Forest Bathing for Stress and Wellness Life today is fast-paced, chaotic, and often overwhelming—especially for women who balance careers, relationships, families, and personal growth. The demands of modern life can leave you feeling stressed, disconnected, and drained. But what if the solution to reclaiming your peace and well-being was as simple as stepping into a forest? Discover Shinrin-yoku, the Japanese practice of forest bathing. Rooted in centuries of Japanese culture and backed by modern science, Shinrin-yoku is a practice of...

This highly regarded war memoir was a best seller in both Japan and the United States during the 1960s and has long been treasured by historians for its insights into the Japanese side of the surface war in the Pacific. The author was a survivor of more than one hundred sorties against the Allies and was known throughout Japan as the Unsinkable Captain.

"Deach March" is a true account of what really happened when American, Philippine and Japanese forces took part in the infamous march that took place at the beginning of WWII. 68,000 defeated Filipino soldiers and 12,000 American soldiers were marched for 9-days without food or water from Marivelles, on the southern tip of the Bataan Peninsula, to Camp O'Donnel that was over 50-miles away. Author, Mike Harris, met multiple times with Ferdinand Marcos, President of the Philippines, who took part in the deadly march and told him his personal story. General Homma, in charge of the victorious ...

Welcome to The Book of Japanese Folklore: a fascinating journey through Japan’s folklore through profiles of the legendary creatures and beings who continue to live on in pop culture today. From the sly kitsune to the orgrish oni and mischievous shape-shifting tanuki, learn all about the origins of these fantastical and mythical creatures. With information on their cultural significance, and how it’s been spun into today’s popular culture, this tome teaches you about the stories and histories of the beings that inspired characters in your favorite movies, animes, manga, and games.

What if you could unlock the secrets of peace, clarity, and purpose, no matter how chaotic life feels? Rinzai Zen has guided seekers for centuries, offering profound wisdom wrapped in simplicity. Rinzai Zen for Beginners brings these transformative teachings to your fingertips in a practical, engaging way. Discover the power of koans. These ancient riddles have challenged and enlightened Zen practitioners for generations. With this book, you’ll not only learn what they are but how to apply their wisdom to break free from conventional thinking and uncover deeper truths. Bring mindfulness ...

Start speaking Japanese in minutes, and grasp the language, culture and customs in just minutes more with Lower Intermediate - Japanese, a completely new way to learn Japanese with ease! Lower Intermediate - Japanese will have you speaking with proper pronunciation from the very first lesson and arm you with cultural insight and other information to utterly shock and amaze your Japanese friends.

1940. Aiyi Shao is a young heiress and the owner of a formerly popular and glamorous Shanghai nightclub. Ernest Reismann is a penniless Jewish refugee driven out of Germany, an outsider searching for shelter in a city wary of strangers. He loses nearly all hope until he crosses paths with Aiyi. When she hires Ernest to play piano at her club, her defiance of custom causes a sensation. His instant fame makes Aiyi’s club once again the hottest spot in Shanghai. Soon they realize they share more than a passion for jazz - but their differences seem insurmountable....